Alabama Atheist Opposes “In God We Trust” Plaque in Mobile County Building and Receives Death Threats on Facebook

This week, several non-Christians spoke up in front of the Mobile County Commission (in Alabama) to request they put up displays reading things like “In Reason We Trust.” It was in response to a recent vote to put “In God We Trust” on a plaque in the city’s Administration Building. Despite the pushback, the Commission denied those requests, saying only the Christian phrase would go up.

Amanda Scott, a member of the Mobile Atheist Community, was one of the people who fought against the Christian privilege:

Amanda wasn’t the only person who opposed the “In God We Trust” display, but it seemed like she was the most prominent, leading WKRG News to ask Facebook readers a question directly about her:

What are your thoughts on a local woman who wants to see an Athiest motto placed next to the words “In God We Trust” at Government Plaza?

Before we move on, let’s talk about how shitty that question is.

Instead of focusing on the topic at hand — the display itself — the question pivots to how readers feel about one specific person who argued against it. That’s just asking for trouble. And commenters responded in kind, with a mix of death threats and nasty comments. We even have the screenshots to prove it:

There were more than 2,500 comments at one point on Saturday, though it’s since been whittled down to about 1,200.

Even on an Al.com article about the threats, commenters don’t seem to be much better. One wrote, “I hope she continues to get more grief mail. Its no less than she deserves.”

Someone on Facebook (an atheist ally, I presume) began making collages of all the nasty things that were being said about Amanda to document all this “Christian Love.”

In spite of all those awful statements, Amanda is staying strong. She’s not going to give up this fight even if some locals have shown they’ll stoop to disgusting depths to get her to stop:

“I tried to be respectful in my testimony and my interview, but I was met with hateful comments and messages from members of the local community attacking my personal character and even my physical appearance.

As for if she feels dissuaded, she said no.

“I will not allow the hatred to discourage me from continuing to defend the constitutional principle of the separation of church and state and the civil rights of atheists here in the city of Mobile and the state of Alabama,” she said.

There’s some courage and class for you. And it’s a lot more than we can expect from some of the Christians who think their faith should be promoted by the government.